Air washer



A g 1950 I w. J. FARLOW 2,518,455

AIR WASHER Filed Nov. 28; 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/ E I INVEN TOR. MYNE LZ FARLDW BY 2 O AT TURN Y W. J. FARLOW AIR WASHER 5 sheets-she t s Fiied Nov: 2a, 1947 INVENTOR.

/ I/I/A NE ZFARLUW ATTUK'N Patented Aug. 15 1950 {UNITED s'rATEs PATENT OFFICE AIR WASHER Wayne .LFarlow, San Francisco, Calif.

Application November 28, 1947, Serial No. 788,754

1 Claim. (01. 261 -91) This invention relates to an improved washer for cleaning air and has particular reference to a device that is specially constructed for cleaning the air supplied to the carburetors of internal combustion motors'and the like.

It is a well known fact that air having dust and foreign matter therein causes much damage to carburetors, cylinders and the various moving parts of the motor. This is particularly true with motors on tractors and other machines operating in fields where dust and other foreign matter is extremely prominent.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a receptacle capable of retaining a quantity of liquid therein and to draw the air supplied to the carburetor through the liquid, whereby the air is completely washed during its travel to the carburetor.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a revolving central tube having a liquid agitator on the lower portion thereof and a suction fan on the upper portion, whereby air is drawn through the agitated water and conveyed to the carburetor through the central tube in a manner preventing any possibility of clogging. humidified and is identical at all times regardless of the amount of foreign matter in the air and the humidity of the same.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an inverted funnel shaped baflie and a revolving tapered agitator positioned beneath the baflie to thoroughly agitate the air and water in a manner utilizing centrifugal force for automatically cleaning the agitator;

Astill further object of the present invention is to position the revolving parts of the device on the lid of the receptacle containing the liquid.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an air filtering device of the character described that is durable, simple in construction, economical to manufacture, positive in operation and highly efiicient and serviceable in use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification, wherein for the purpose of illustration, like numerals designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevational view of the improved device embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the device taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in direction of the arrows,

The air drawn into the carburetor is Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking upwardly in direction of the arrows, and

Fig. L is a transverse sectional view taken through the suction fan casing, looking downwardly in direction of the arrows.

Referring in detail to the drawings and to the numerals thereof, the numeral 1 designates the receptacle as a Whole, open at the top as at 8 and the numeral 9 designates a suitable cover positioned thereon. The said receptacle is mounted on a base member 9, and is substantially secured thereto by a plurality of elongated vertical bolts I!) having wing nuts H as disclosed to advantage in Figs. 1 and 3. A plurality of internally threaded nuts are welded to the said base member for receiving the threaded end portions of the said bolts. An enlarged stationary inverted funnel shaped bafile member 12 having angular shaped vanes l3 formed on and around the bottom thereof is adjustably secured to the centrally positioned ring member 14 by suitable screws l5, a plurality of nuts [8 being Welded to the outer periphery of the ring for accommodating the said screws. A circular plate ll, centrally apertured as at I8 is welded Or otherwise secured within the ring as at IS. A central sleeve 29 is positioned between the top face of the said plate and the bottom of the cover 9, and the said sleeve 20 and plate I! carrying the baiile member l2 are suspended from thevsaid cover and rigidly secured thereto by the elongated bolts 2| having wing nuts 22, suitable spacer members 23 being provided for accommodating the said bolts. The cover 9 is formed with a central opening 24 and with a plurality of air inlet openings 25. An auxiliary cover plate 26, having similar air inlet openings, is positioned over the said cover 9 and central opening 24.

An air outlet tube 21 is verticall positioned through the said central opening 24 of the cover and is revolvably supported on two angular type ball bearings 28 and 29, which bearings provide both vertical and horizontal support and are mounted in the sleeve 28 as disclosed to advantage in Fig. 2. The said bearings are of the conventional sealed type cap-able of retaining lubricant therein. An outer sleeve 39 grooved as at 3| is positioned on the central tube 2'! and against the upper ball bearing 28 and is secured to the said tube by the oppositely disposed set screws 32 and 33 respectively. The said grooved sleeve is employed as a pulley in the operation of the device. An angular ball bearing 34 is positioned on the upper portion of the said tube and against the top face of the said outer sleeve. The numeral 35 designates a suitable conventional suction fan, which fan includes a lower funnel shaped member 35' rigidly secured to the upper portion of the tube 2'! by two oppositely opposed nuts 36 as disclosed to advantage in Fig. 2. A fan housing 3'! preferably shaped as illustrated to advantage in Fig. 4 is positioned above the upper ball bearing 34 and is supported on an apertured rin'g38, which ring is rigidly secured to the elongated bolts 2! by suitable set screws 39. The said bolts 2| extend through the apertures 40 provided in the bottom of the fan housing 31, whereby the said housing is keyed to'the receptacle 1. A removable cover 44 is secured to the top of the housing by the screws'ill and "a suitable gasket 42 is provided .for making the joint dust proof. The said fan housing is formed with a circular outlet 63 for accommoda ting a flexible tubing for connecting the same to the carburetor of the motor. The annulariigroove 3| :serves asa medium to accommodate a conventional V=shaped belt for operatively conmeeting the device to a suitable power means whereby revolvable movement is imparted to the agitator, centralair tube and suction fan.

An inverted funnel shaped housing l having a-substantially fiat top portion 59, apertured as at 4? is positioned on the lower end portion of theair-outlet tube 27 and is retained thereon by the internally threaded nut 48, which nut is keyed to the said tube by a suitable screw -49. Suitable bolts and nuts 50 and El respectively secure the said nut to the flat top portion d6 of the said housing' lt. The numeral 52 designates the agitator as a whole, which agitator is formed with a plurality of depending angular shaped'agitating members 53 and issecured to the bottom face of the housing @5 by suitable bolts and nuts 5 and 55, respectively, disclosed to advantage in Fig. 2. An angular shaped circular baffie member 56 is positioned within the receptacle above the lower end portion 'of the central balile member l2 and is weldedto or otherwise substantially secured to the circular wallof the receptacle as shown at 57 in Fig. 2. The said bafile preventsthe liquid from splashing in the upper portion of the receptacle. The liquid is any suitable type such as water or oil and is designated by the numeral 58, a suitable quantity of which is placed in the bottom of the receptacle as disclosed to advantage in Fig. 2. The numeral 59 designates an inlet valve and the numeral 69 the outlet valve, which valve can be of any suitable type. It will be noted that the lower inner surface of the inlet pipe is in line with thetop surface of the liquid as at 51, thus providing a medium for designating the exact amount of liquid to be provided in the receptacle for producing the best efficiency. The said valves also provide a means for enabling theaccumulated dust and foreign matter to be thoroughly washed out of the receptacle.

.From the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingslit will be obvious that when revolvable movement isimparted to the central tube 2?, the agitator members 53'Will whirl the liquid in the bottom of the receptacle 1 and the fan.35 will produce a suction and cause .air to be .drawn through r conveying thefiltered air to the carburetor.

the inlet openings 25 in the top covers, which air will pass around the inverted funnel shaped baflle member l2 and through the whirling water, be washed therein and will be drawn up through the central tube 21 and be discharged through the outlet 43. It will be particularly noted that there are no obstructions in the central tube 2'! to interfere with the free and efficient passage of the air, and also that the combination of the revolving agitator members-53 with the stationary vanes f3 orr the baffle member 12 Will'thoroughly break up the water in the most efficient manner to completely wash all dust and other foreign matter from the air.

The numeral 62 designates a flexible tubing or other suitable medium for It is herein pointedout that the apparatus is void of air restriction 'due to the fact that the water is 'a -filtering agent and restriction will not develop.

-.It .is to be understood that the 'form of my invention herewith-shown and described is to be taken as a prefer-red example of the'same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted towithoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

An air Washing device of the character described comprising -a substantially circular receptacle capable of retaining a quantity of liquidin the bottom portion thereof, a cover removablysupportedon the upper extremity of the receptacle, an inlet in'the said cover for admitting air to the liquidya casing removably secured to the cover-and spaced above the same, an outlet in the said .casing, .a tube revolvably supported in the said cover and vertically extending in the said receptacle and casing, a cylindrical :shell'surroundingthe said tube and secured to the. said cover, an inverted funnel shapedbafiie member surrounding the said-shell and extending below the same, lmeans adjustably securing the said bafile member to the said shell,

.a pluralityhof vanes formed on the lower portion of the baille member, a-second baffle member surrounding the said first mentioned baffle member, means securing the second baffle memher to the receptacle, .anagitator vfixed to the lower end portion of the said tube and positioned beneath the said baillemembers, the said agitator being capableof whirling liquid in the receptacle, and a fan fixed to the upper end portion of the said tube for drawingair. through the said whirled liquid and discharging the air through the said casing.

WAYNE J. FARLO'VV.

REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date

1,083,057 Clawson Dec. 30, 1913 1,11 0;914 Feld Sept. 15, 1915 1,998,224 Delvin Apr. 16, 1935 2,189,021 Schury Feb. 6, 1940 

